1998 Minnesota Statutes

     473.621 Powers of corporation. 

    Subdivision 1.  Repealed, 1977 c 417 s 14 

    Subd. 1a.    Relationship to legislature.  The 
 commission shall be held accountable to the legislature in its 
 activities, plans, policies, and programs.  It shall report each 
 session to appropriate committees of the legislature as to its 
 activities, plans, policies, and programs and shall make other 
 reports and recommendations which the legislature or its 
 committees deem appropriate.  

    Subd. 1b.    Annual report to legislature.  The 
 corporation shall report to the legislature by February 15 of 
 each year concerning operations at Minneapolis-St. Paul 
 International Airport.  The report must include the number of 
 aircraft operations and passenger enplanements at the airport in 
 the preceding year, current airport capacity in terms of 
 operations and passenger enplanements, average length of delay 
 statistics, and technological developments affecting aviation 
 and their effect on operations and capacity at the airport.  The 
 report must include information in all the foregoing categories 
 as it relates to operations at Wayne County Metropolitan Airport 
 in Detroit.  The report must compare the number of passenger 
 enplanements and the number of aircraft operations with the 1993 
 metropolitan airport commission baseline forecasts of total 
 passengers and total aircraft operations. 

    Subd. 2.    Control of city airports.  The corporation 
 shall have the use, management, operation, regulation, policing, 
 and control of any or all airports owned by either the city of 
 Minneapolis or St. Paul, whether the airport or title thereto is 
 held in the name of the city, the council, a board of park 
 commissioners, or any other body.  Consent by each city, the 
 council, the board of park commissioners, and any other agency, 
 board, or department thereof to the use, management, operation, 
 regulation, policing, and control is conclusively presumed to 
 have been given by the appointment of commissioners pursuant to 
 the provisions of Laws 1943, chapter 500.  Authority is granted 
 to the mayor and council of each city and any board or 
 commission having jurisdiction of airports in either city to 
 give consent in that manner.  The corporation may exercise all 
 the powers granted to it with reference to any airport property 
 over which it has jurisdiction pursuant to this subdivision, 
 except the right of leasing or disposing of the fee title to the 
 lands included therein, without the payment of any rental.  The 
 title to the fee of the land shall remain in the city, or 
 agency, board, or department of the city.  The action to be 
 taken pursuant to this subdivision is declared to be necessary 
 in order to provide an integrated airports system and enable the 
 corporation to carry out the public and governmental purposes of 
 Laws 1943, chapter 500.  The corporation shall not close any 
 existing airport in either city to air freight commerce 
 consigned to or originating in the city unless and until it 
 provides for the city freight airport facilities which are, in 
 the judgment of the corporation and except as they may be 
 restricted by government use, substantially equal to the 
 existing freight airport facilities in safety and convenience to 
 businesses and industries of the city.  For the purpose of this 
 subdivision, "airport" shall include only the lands, buildings, 
 and equipment acquired for use primarily for any airport over 
 which the corporation has jurisdiction pursuant to this 
 subdivision. 

    Subd. 3.    Payment of city bonds.  The authority in 
 subdivision 2, granted to the corporation is not conditioned 
 upon the receipt of any appropriation provided for in Laws 1943, 
 chapter 500.  Each city involved, or any board or commission of 
 such city, shall pay the balance due on its bonds which have 
 prior to the enactment of Laws 1943, chapter 500, been issued 
 pursuant to law or charter to secure funds for the acquisition, 
 establishment, construction, enlargement or improvement of the 
 airports to be taken over as provided in subdivision 2, 
 according to the terms of such bonds.  The corporation created 
 by Laws 1943, chapter 500, may, if it shall so determine, assume 
 the payment of part or all of the balance due on such bonds at 
 the time of its taking over the use, management, operation, 
 regulation, policing and control of such airports. 

    Subd. 4.    Additional major airport.  The corporation 
 may provide, in addition to airports existing at the time of the 
 passage of Laws 1943, chapter 500, at least one major or primary 
 metropolitan airport which shall be as nearly equidistant from 
 the city halls of both cities as possible.  All other new 
 airports to be constructed shall be so located that the airport 
 system of the corporation as a whole shall be of substantially 
 equal convenience to both cities.  It shall put all airports and 
 other facilities to their maximum use for passenger, mail, 
 express, freight, and other air transportation operations as the 
 needs therefor develop, and shall encourage the establishment of 
 related aircraft industries. 

    Subd. 5.    City cost calculation; land reversion.  The 
 investment of the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul in the 
 metropolitan airports system, from the date of the original 
 enactment of this section to January 1, 1973, includes the land 
 comprising airports owned by them and taken over pursuant to 
 subdivision 2, and taxes levied on property within the cities in 
 the years 1944 to 1969, the proceeds of which, together with 
 revenues of the system and federal funds, were expended for the 
 operation, administration, maintenance, improvement, and 
 extension of the system and the service of debt incurred for 
 such improvement and extension, including improvement of the 
 city lands.  The aggregate amount of such taxes was $19,816,873, 
 of which $7,294,022 would have been assessed and extended 
 against property outside the cities if the entire metropolitan 
 area, which will be taxable by the corporation in 1974 and 
 subsequent years under section 473.661, had been within its 
 taxing jurisdiction when those levies were made.  If it should 
 become necessary for the corporation to levy any such taxes for 
 any purpose other than the payment of bonds and interest, they 
 shall be extended and assessed exclusively against taxable 
 property outside the cities until the total amount so assessed 
 and extended equals $7,294,022.  In the event that the airport 
 land owned by either city should no longer be used for airport 
 purposes, the corporation's control thereof shall cease, and 
 title to the land and all improvements shall be and remain in 
 the city, but the city shall become liable to the corporation 
 for the repayment, without interest, of an amount of the taxes 
 so paid which is proportionate to its own share of the cities' 
 original investment, being 60 percent for Minneapolis and 40 
 percent for St. Paul.  In the event that any other land or 
 improvements owned or controlled by the corporation should ever 
 cease to be used for airport purposes, all income therefrom and 
 all proceeds received upon disposal thereof shall continue to be 
 used for purposes of the metropolitan airports system, subject 
 to federal laws and regulations governing such disposal; or if 
 the operation of the system should ever be terminated, all such 
 income and proceeds shall be distributed to the seven counties 
 in the metropolitan area, in amounts proportionate to the net 
 tax capacity of taxable property in each county at the time of 
 such distribution. 

    Subd. 6.    Capital projects; review.  All 
 Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport capital projects of 
 the commission requiring the expenditure of more than $5,000,000 
 shall be submitted to the metropolitan council for review.  All 
 other capital projects of the commission requiring the 
 expenditure of more than $2,000,000 shall be submitted to the 
 metropolitan council for review.  No such project that has a 
 significant effect on the orderly and economic development of 
 the metropolitan area may be commenced without the approval of 
 the metropolitan council.  In addition to any other criteria 
 applied by the metropolitan council in reviewing a proposed 
 project, the council shall not approve a proposed project unless 
 the council finds that the commission has completed a process 
 intended to provide affected municipalities the opportunity for 
 discussion and public participation in the commission's 
 decision-making process.  An "affected municipality" is any 
 municipality that (1) is adjacent to a commission airport, (2) 
 is within the noise zone of a commission airport, as defined in 
 the metropolitan development guide, or (3) has notified the 
 commission's secretary that it considers itself an "affected 
 municipality."  The council must at a minimum determine that the 
 commission: 

    (a) provided adequate and timely notice of the proposed 
 project to each affected municipality; 

    (b) provided to each affected municipality a complete 
 description of the proposed project; 

    (c) provided to each affected municipality notices, 
 agendas, and meeting minutes of all commission meetings, 
 including advisory committee meetings, at which the proposed 
 project was to be discussed or voted on in order to provide the 
 municipalities the opportunity to solicit public comment and 
 participate in the project development on an ongoing basis; and 

    (d) considered the comments of each affected municipality. 

    Subd. 7.    Capital projects.  For purposes of this 
 section, capital projects having a significant effect on the 
 orderly and economic development of the metropolitan area shall 
 be deemed to be the following: 

    (a) the location of a new airport, 

    (b) a new runway at an existing airport, 

    (c) a runway extension at an existing airport, 

    (d) runway strengthening other than routine maintenance to 
 determine compliance with federal air regulation part 36, 

    (e) construction or expansion of passenger handling or 
 parking facilities which would permit a 25 percent or greater 
 increase in passenger enplanement levels, 

    (f) land acquisition associated with any of the above items 
 or which would cause relocation of residential or business 
 activities. 

    HIST: 1975 c 13 s 103; 1977 c 417 s 9-11; 1984 c 561 s 2-4; 
 1987 c 223 s 3; 1988 c 719 art 5 s 84; 1989 c 279 s 6; 1989 c 
 329 art 13 s 20; 1996 c 464 art 3 s 12; 1998 c 381 s 3